


Diplomacy Lesson

by raving_liberal



Series: Kids and Kids [3]
Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky's Goats Are Not Mentioned In This Fic, But Rest Assured They Are Fine And Going About Their Business, Cute Kids, Family Fluff, Gen, Happy Steve Bingo, Tea Parties, Wakanda (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-27 22:57:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16229036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raving_liberal/pseuds/raving_liberal
Summary: Sometimes diplomacy lessons may be mistaken as tea parties, especially if Bucky's wearing a tiara.





	Diplomacy Lesson

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Steve Bingo Prompt: [Wildcard] Caught in a Tea Party Wearing a Tiara
> 
> Beta-reading by the_ink_stained_knight

“It’s not what it looks like!” Bucky blurted out as soon as Steve walked in the door to find him seated at their dining table with a plastic tiara perched on his head. Steve barely stifled a laugh, keeping his face as serious as the situation behooved him.

“Hi, Daddy!” Winnie said, waving a gloved hand at him.

Steve bowed deeply at the waist. “Your highness.”

“Highness _-es_ , Daddy,” Winnie prompted.

“My apologies,” Steve said to the small gathering around the table, to a one decked out in crowns, circlets, or tiaras – Bucky included. Steve repeated the bow, even deeper this time. “Your highnesses. Princess Ntombokuqala, you look well.” T’challa’s oldest daughter nodded her head regally. “Princess Ncobe, Princess Nocawe, I am honored by your presence.” T’challa’s twin girls beamed at him, their Aunt Shuri in miniature. “Princess Winifred, please stop wiping jam on your ball gown.”

“Sorry, Daddy,” Winnie said. Her contrite face looked suspiciously enough like Bucky’s that Steve had begun suspecting she practiced it in a mirror.

“And of course, who could forget the resplendent Princess Bu—”

“You’d better think _real_ hard about whether or not you want to go there, pal,” Bucky said, leaning his ornate non-combat prosthetic arm against the lace tablecloth. While Shuri may have made the arm itself, Olwethu’s partner Themba had crafted the delicate scrollwork, which made Bucky treasure it all the more. Most importantly, that arm symbolized peacetime, which everyone Steve and Bucky cared for welcomed.

“But you look so fetching in that tiara,” Steve said. He innocently batted his eyes at Bucky, who bought it about as much as you’d expect.

“I was just filling in until Robin could get here,” Bucky insisted. 

Clint and Laura Barton’s fourth and, according to Clint, final child was Winnie’s favorite outsider. Steve still cringed a little at the whole “outsider” thing, but he could admit he and Bucky had made a lot of changes to adapt to Wakandan culture and technology, and it all was all Winnie had ever known. A child spending most of his life homeschooling in rural Upstate New York did seem somewhat alien when plunked into the middle of Birnin Zana. Robin felt more at home on Bucky and Steve’s little farm. Winnie and the twins absolutely adored him anyway.

Still.

“I could maybe buy that if it were just the tiara, but you’re wearing the gloves, too, Buck,” Steve pointed.

“The gloves are an important part of the ensemble, Steve,” Bucky said, to which all four girls nodded their enthusiastic agreement.

“Baba doesn’t fit in the dress, obviously,” Winnie said. ‘Obviously’ was her new favorite word. Steve hated it, but Bucky got a kick out of their 7-year-old daughter sounding like a jaded teenager. She’s correct that Bucky wouldn’t fit in the dress, though Robin, a meager three months older than Winnie, fit in the dress just fine. 

“So… how exactly is this not what I think it is?” Steve asked. “You’re not having a tea party with our daughter and her friends?”

“Ha! See? I told you,” Bucky said, more to the girls than to Steve.

“You did tell us, Sergeant Barnes,” Ntombokuqala agreed.

“So unobservant,” Bucky said. The twins both looked at Bucky, who nodded, and then at Steve. They then slowly shook their heads in a comedic show of disappointment that Steve was absolutely certain they had practiced. 

“Alright, then,” Steve said. “If it’s not a tea party, what is it?”

“It’s a diplomacy lesson,” Bucky said.

Steve raised an eyebrow. “Diplomacy?”

“Yeah,” Bucky said. “I’m a visiting dignitary. We had planned on it being Robin, but he’s late, so we started without him.”

“Sergeant Barnes has a great deal of experience dealing with international heads of state,” Ntombokuqala told Steve.

“Mmhmm,” Steve said, because while technically correct, he wouldn’t exactly say that Bucky’s particular brand of experience—espionage and assassination—lent itself well to diplomacy lessons.

“So there you have it,” Bucky said, flourishing his gloved hands over the table. 

“It’s not what it looks like,” Steve agreed.

“Exactly,” Bucky said. 

“Well, then I’ll leave you diplomats to your lesson,” Steve said. 

“Hey, Steve?” Bucky said, before Steve could walk away. “Could you do something for me?”

“Sure.”

Bucky held out the teapot. “Tea’s running a little low. You mind putting the kettle on?”

Steve sighed, but accepted the teapot. “But it’s not a tea party.”

“Nope.”

“Fine,” Steve said. As he turned towards their kitchen, he heard the girls giggling behind him. Smiling to himself, he refilled the kettle and put it on to heat.


End file.
